Monday, April 30, 2007

Microsoft has for some reason stopped short of allowing users full control over the customization of the screensavers that ship with the Windows Vista .

One of the screensavers that is built in Windows Vista is the Aurora. If you right click on the desktop, choose Personalization, then Screen Saver, you will be able to select between a collection of screen savers - Among them, the Aurora. However, when you click the Settings button next to the screensaver, Vista displays the following message: “No options. This screensaver has no options that you can set.” I guess we might as well give up, right? Nopes. I have a trick under the sleeves for you.

Why? Because there's always the trusted registry hacks associated with it. But first please Backup the registry before applying any changes. And with this out of the way it is time to make up for the fact that Microsoft has overlooked to include option dialogs for the screensavers in Vista.

In the Search Box included in the Vista Start menu type regedit and hit enter. Now make your way via HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Screensavers and Aurora. Here go ahead and right click the empty space and select New, DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it NumLayers, then double click on it and select Decimal and then set a value. Be careful what value you give to Amplitude because you could end up with a dark screen for your screensaver.

For the Ribbons screensaver you can create two new keys dubbed NumRibbons and RibbonWidth, and set them just as the ones for Aurora. Again, the values are up to you. Simply experiment. It won't hurt, trust me!

For the Mystify screensaver there is only one DWORD (32-bit) Value named NumLines. Here, the bigger the value the more interesting the effect you will achieve. And last but not least, the Bubbles screensaver can receive four values MaterialGlass, Radius, ShowBubles, ShowShadows.

If at anytime you will whish to revert back to the original settings just delete the registry values that you have added.

Sending contact information from Outlook is as simple as:In Contacts, click the contact you want to send as a vCard, and then on the Actions menu click Forward as vCard or Forward.

To send your vCard from the Blackberry:Open the Address Book and scroll to your name, or go to the Messages field of a new mail, click scroll wheel, and select one of "Send As Attachment" or "Send to Messenger Contact".

Saturday, April 28, 2007

WikidPad is a wiki-like notebook for storing your thoughts, ideas, todo lists, contacts, or anything else you can think of to write down. What makes it different from other notepad applications is the ease with which you can cross-link your information. Links in a wiki are created by typing in WikiWords. A WikiWord is any case word (also called CamelCase) typed into the editor. TodoList or JohnDoe are example WikiWords. The term wiki means "quick" in Hawaiian, and wikis are all about quickly linking your information together. Wikis are not a new concept, in fact there are many web based wiki servers available.

wikidPad is a real-time wikiwikidPad is not a web server, or application server, or groupware solution. wikidPad is a standalone notepad like application, albeit notepad on steroids. wikidPad is like an IDE for your thoughts.

IDE for your thoughtsSoftware developers have grown accustomed to certain features from their integrated development environment that make their jobs easier. Features like auto-completion, outline views, incremental search, easy source code navigation. IDE's that provide these features can greatly increase developer productivity. wikidPad attempts to utilize some of these features to address the problem of personal information management.

Personal Information ManagementHow do you manage all of the random bits of information in your personal and professional life? Word documents, text files, Microsoft Outlook folders/notes. If you're an expert user maybe you have a weblog, or a personal database, or possibly an outlining application.Where do you track your wifes favorite food, your bosses kids names, your personal todo list, the name of the movie you just read a review of, the name of the book a friend recommended. wikidPad was created to address this issue of personal information management. It provides a place to manage the massive amounts of information you have stuffed in your head, on stickies, or on your computer.

Today, I'll present you the most powerful alternatives for Yahoo Messenger that allow you to communicate with your friends from other applications but with the same support for Yahoo Messenger. In fact, by using one of the following programs, you'll be able to communicate with every contact from your Yahoo list but with some other functions and interface.

Gaim :Gaimis a powerful Yahoo Messenger alternative, being recently renamed to Pidgin after some federal problems with more famous companies. However, Gaim is still available for download in version 2.0 beta 6 but you're also required to install GTK+ for Windows as an add-on for the stand-alone program. Gaim offers support for most of Yahoo Messenger functions, including file transfer and emoticons but it also includes some new tools that can be very useful for the chatting experience. For example, the Psychic plugin helps the users find out when another client of Yahoo Messenger starts to type a message even before he presses the enter button.

Trillian : Trillian is probably one of the best Yahoo replacements, helping users to connect to multiple networks including the giant’s portal. The program allows you to send files to your Yahoo contacts but it provides a different set of emoticons and sounds. The interface is 100 percent changed because Trillian enables you to customize the appearance by using different styles or themes. At this time, the developers are working on a new version of the application that will include support for many of the Yahoo Messenger editions and made them fully compatible with your client.

I think these two programs are the most powerful in their category so, if you want to use an instant messaging client other than Yahoo Messenger download them at the links provided (Click on the orange names above).

However, if you still want to chat even easier, without having to install any application, you can use one of the web-based clients that help you communicate on the Internet from an online Interface. Although Yahoo's Web Messenger is regarded as an easy way to do that, you can also use Meebo, a solution that supports a lot of messaging protocols.

Friday, April 27, 2007

JetBlue is taking into consideration the possibility of allowing its passengers to send messages while in flight. Everyone knows that mobile phone communication is currently forbidden in airplanes, as it might interfere with the aviation electronics. The word “might” is essential, as the risk posed by mobile phones to airplane equipment is still uncertain and has not yet been proven by the any Aviation Commission.

JetBlue's decision might be considered as an attempt to get back among the first airline companies in U.S. They need to recover after the credit loss that they suffered in February due to some flight cancellations and delays. As for the pioneering feature of this decision they are thinking on, JetBlue was also the first airline to introduce in-flight live television programing. Now, in-flight text communicating is attractive, although they have rejected the possibility of allowing voice mail or mobile phone calls.

Moreover, European carriers such as Air France-KLM and Ryanair have announced that they are currently working on ways to make mobile phone use possible in airplanes. Southwest Airlines, the largest domestic carrier in US is also thinking on means to improve communication on airplanes through wireless solutions. It seems that, setting aside the ban, mobile communication could turn out as a profitable solution for many airline companies.

Jetblue is an American low-cost airline founded in 2001. Surprisingly, it is one of the few airlines in US that made a profit after the attacks at World Trade Center in New York.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

It is tomorrow that Sony should open up to the Japanese public its Online Video service : eyeVio whose site (in Japanese) is in line but with an extra access protected by a password. The Reuters agency indicates that the user will be able to choose who can look at the contents put online, and for how long it will be available.

YouTube, will get a new rival soon as the giant Sony prepares a similar product that will target the same segment of users. The new solution, codenamed eyeVio, is meant to represent an improved YouTube that will fight against copyright infringement cases since its release date. Sony intends to monitor all the content uploaded to the page because it is extremely important to avoid the problems encountered by the Google - over YouTube.

Well, but Sony isn't the first company that has planned to challenge YouTube and attract the same category of users. However, the recently acquired Google product managed to remain the leader and is often improved with new channels that are able to compete with the services released by other Internet companies. The best example is GodTube, a YouTube-like product that allows users to upload, share and comment clips, being based on a single type of content. GodTube contains only Church-related clips and aims to lure Christians to its page by offering a lot of lectures and preaches. As a reply, YouTube designed a new channel to attract bishops and is currently offering the same type of content as GodTube.

Some time ago, when Google was attacked by Viacom, Microsoft and News Corp announced their plans to develop the most powerful rival for the search giant's product. However, YouTube managed to resist in the battle with the MTV owner and sustained its number of visitors was boosted just after the Viacom removal was started.

So let's watch out for eyeVio to fare better or worse. eyeVio Japan can be accessed here. The main site requires a userid and password though.

Recently I saw an Ad of Akamai in one of the website's which claimed that it has created a much much faster internet for us all. Well, I was puzzled seeing that - How can a single company create a faster internet?

Before I was about to push this aside thinking that Akamai has used advanced Fibre Optics or a proprietary network on it's own. I just went over to their website and lo I found a link for that story.

Click hereto check for your self. When I tried for Bangalore to New York - I was shocked by the results. Here it is below.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Yahoo has brought out a better mapping product for India - which will surely compete with Google Maps. The offer is Yahoo India Maps and Yahoo India Our City, two products that will help visitors view high resolution photos of most Indian cities.

Yahoo India Our City provides instant access to 20 cities from India such as Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and some other locations. Yahoo India Maps is more developed than Google Maps because it displays pictures from 170 cities, 4785 towns and 220 villages from the entire country.

Yahoo Cofounder David Filo has recently acknowledged the contribution made by the India Development Centre. The team in Bangalore ranked on the top of the table compared to other centres in technological development. Nearly 20 per cent of the engineering inputs for Yahoo came from Bangalore it seems.

However, it is extremely difficult to fight with Google Earth and Google Maps because the two search giant's solutions are very powerful and are periodically improved with new tools able to bring the company in the spotlights. For example, Google revealed today a new improvement for Earth by adding two new layers to enable users to view the structures of the most famous building in the US.

If you like to listen to free Internet Radio, Online Radio or Web Radio, using Shoutcast and/or AAC/OGG/WMA streams, we have the Online Radio Tuner which will play and record your favorite radio stations and display the album art of the artist if available. This is the ultimate tool if you are listening to free radio stations and fm radio stations and wants to listen using your PC instead.

Online Radio Tuner is a user friendly program that allows you to listen and record radio streams from the Internet. It includes support for .PLS/.M3U/.ASX playlists and MP3/WMA/OGG/AAC+ formats.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Yahoo plans to release a new solution that will attract an important number of users because there are no legal alternatives to this kind of product. Yahoo Lyrics will be especially designed to show the lyrics of more than 400.000 songs in comparison with other websites that are displaying the text without copyright owners' approval. According to MSNBC, Yahoo hopes to represent the biggest licensed database of lyrics because most of the similar pages currently available on the Internet are working without owners' authorization. The new Yahoo product will share the revenues with the providers of the lyrics so the company will obtain the authorization to publish the text with ease. Although the parent company Yahoo plans to promote the upcoming solution, it seems like the biggest investments will come from its own funds as the giant portal wants to display numerous adverts.

The database and licensing deals were cobbled together over the past two years by Gracenote, a digital media management specialist. Gracenote, formerly known as CDDB, is best known for developing technology that automatically recognizes the tracks on compact discs — a feature that is included in Apple Inc.’s widely used iTunes software.

Yahoo Lyrics will include 400.000 songs and more than 9.000 different artists of all times. Until now, almost 100 music publishers announced their contribution to the service, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Warner/Chappel Music being the most important companies on the list. At this time, the number of similar websites is quite huge but the giant portal plans to fight with them using a clean website, without spyware, Trojan files or other infections and only with a small number of advertisements.

Monday, April 23, 2007

The System Landscape Directory of SAP NetWeaver (SLD) serves as a central information repository for your system landscape. A system landscape consists of a number of hardware and software components that depend on each other with regard to installation, software updates, and demands on interfaces.

Information in the SLD is used by various SAP tools, for example, for planning and performing upgrades to the system landscape (Software Lifecycle Manager of SAP NetWeaver), finding destination information for ABAP systems and Web services (Web Dynpro), and for maintaining development information by the SAP NetWeaver Development Infrastructure (NWDI). Features

● The SLD stores information about all installable and installed components of a system landscape. It is based on the standard Common Information Model (CIM). The CIM standard is a general, extensible schema for describing the elements in a system landscape. SAP has enhanced the CIM standard with classes for SAP-specific content.

● SAP provides both a Web-based user interface (UI) for interactive access and client APIs for programmatic access in ABAP and Java.

● SAP provides information about installable SAP software, dependencies and recommended scenarios and regularly publishes updates on SAP Service Marketplace. You can browse this information in the software catalog views. You can also manually add information about third-party components to the SLD.

● SAP software components that are installed on technical systems are registered automatically and on a regular basis in the SLD. Thus the SLD always contains up-to-date information about the installed system landscape. You can view this information in the technical systems views, and can aggregate and group it in the landscapes views.

● In addition, you can use the SLD for name reservation in the NWDI. It contains the master list of all reserved names used in development, such as development component names, Java package names, and database object names.

● The Exchange Infrastructure (XI) uses the SLD to store information about business systems, which are logically connected to technical systems.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

When you download Windows Vista instead of buying the disk, you will find that the process of burning the operating system to a disk is not quite as streamlined as you would expect. Windows Vista copies purchased and downloaded from Windows Marketplace are not ISO files!!(sounds strange right). But the truth is that Microsoft is not delivering Windows Vista as an ISO image via Windows Marketplace.

For Windows Marketplace, Microsoft's solution would be that the user would not require special hardware (DVD burner) or knowledge (how to use DVD burning software to burn an ISO image).

This means that users that have acquired Vista via Windows Marketplace will not get an ISO file, but three files: VistaSetupPrep.exe (73.76 MB), boot.wim (116.31 MB) and install.wim (2.25 GB). These values are approximate, as they are associated with either the 32-bit or 64-bit editions of the operating system.

So the procedure is as follows:

After all of the files are downloaded, you can launch VistaSetupPrep.exe (or simply click the "Install" button in the digital locker assistant). VistaSetupPrep.exe then extracts the 500+ files compressed inside it and links the .wim files into into a folder called "Vista". The end result is that the Vista folder is a replica of the Windows Vista DVD. Before VistaSetupPrep.exe exits, it launches the setup.exe in the Vista folder and Windows Vista setup starts, just like if you had launched it from DVD(now that's cool right).

But there is also a way to transform the three separate files into an ISO image that users will be able to burn to a disk - So that's exactly what i'll explain to you now. First off, you have to paste all files on C:. Then run VistaSetupPrep.exe in order to extract the files of the operating system. Next, download CDImage, which you will have to track down and download yourselves, for various reasons that I will not get into here.

Now launch “cmd” and enter "cdimage -m -u2 -bC:Vistabootetfsboot.com C:Vista C:Vistax86.iso" to create the Windows Vista ISO image. Next use your usual DVD burner to burn the Vista ISO to a DVD, just make sure that you use the minimum speed.

Hope this helps you out in getting your Vista Installables onto a DVD disk easily!!

Friday, April 20, 2007

I have seen a few people with an e-mail address as Googlemail instead of Gmail - This made me curious. But when I tried to visit the website www.Googlemail.com, I was re-directed to www.Gmail.com . So what's the difference? Theoretically, the names differ, but practically they're the same. This discovery led me research further and this is what the explanation seems to be.

Googlemail is not different; it is the mail solution trademark for certain countries where the Gmail domain wasn't available. Let's have a quick test. Open you email account, other than the one provided by Google, let's say Yahoo. Login to yourID@yahoo.com and send a mail to your Gmail/Googlemail account but instead of your domain, write the other name (Gmail for Googlemail and vice versa). Check your Google account. The mail is here, isn't it? That's why I'm saying they are the same, so stop requesting a different domain.

As you know, Gmail is the mail solution provided by Google and released in 2004. Since the official launch of the product, it was till recently available only by invitation, no free registration being allowed. Starting with February 2007, the search giant decided to make it a public beta and made it available for free for all Internet users. Although it was only a private product, Gmail managed to gather a huge number of clients because every user was able to send no more than 100 invites to his friends.

When Gmail was released, Google described the service as the mail solution with the largest file storage size, offering approximately 1 GB. Then, it evolved and received a lot of new features and functions, all of them included in the freeware product available today. Now, Gmail is regarded as the most secure mail service because it is able to filter the spam messages sent from any address. Keep rocking Google!!

Yahoo's password can be used with any Yahoo account including Mail, Messenger, Bookmarks or Search. Because the account is compatible with numerous other Yahoo products, it is extremely important to keep it private and use a complex password. The instant messaging client(Yahoo Messenger) is often attacked by a lot of malicious users trying to steal others' passwords by using different techniques.

If you're a Yahoo Messenger user, you have surely received mass messages, usually sent to the entire list and able to exploit some members' naivety. As I said, the most used technique to steal a password is the sending of malicious links that usually try to install an ActiveX control on your computer and send your password to a remote address. It is very important to avoid clicking on dangerous or unknown links as well as refusing to open websites sent from unknown users.

It is often said that some hackers are able to steal a Yahoo Messenger password straight from their computers and using a remote connection. Wrong! No one is able to find a user's private data unless he allows for it. That's why it's very important to block any malicious attempt to connect to your computer as well as any anonymous remote connection.

The main question is: is it possible to steal a Yahoo Messenger username and password? Theoretically, yes. Practically, it's impossible. OK, so my password is safe but some friends are claiming their passwords were stolen by hackers. What happened? Usually, the users might think their account was stolen if they're unable to connect but there are numerous reasons for this error: bad connection, Yahoo temporary downtime or even a ban applied to the account for multiple reasons.

So, are we safe enough to use Yahoo Messenger without any threat? Of course not, but all you need to do is to block any unknown connection that might harm your computer and steal your private information. How? Using a firewall that gives you full control over your incoming and outcoming traffic...

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Only certain people have a sixth sense, and those who do are of mixed feelings because another sense can be a blessing or curse. Some people have the 6th sense, just not everyone. Some of the examples of sixth senses are being able to sense danger, able to sense feelings, and using the other 5 senses to a whole new level, such as smelling something a mile away. So if you do have a sixth sense consider yourself lucky.

Clairaudience - Intuitive This is a person who will pick up a thought and hear it. This persons mental or intellectual understanding is very important and they can make good leaders. We all know someone that we would say was a mental person, always having to understand mentally. They carefully think things through. If this person were to become enlightened they would have the ability to become a medium, someone who channels information from entities who have passed over, because their most heightened sensitivity is to hear.

Clairvoyance- Visionary This is a person who will pick up a thought and see it. This person has the ability to transform a thought into a vision, symbol or in colour by using their mind's eye. If an artist, a decorator, a creative person, someone who mainly uses the right side of their brain were to become enlightened they would have the ability to read auras, our chakras, draw guides and this is how they would channel what they received because the ability to see images is their most heightened sensitivity.

Clairsentience - Prophetic This is a person who will pick up a thought and just knows it. This person is sensitive to precognition and has hunches, dreams and knowings and this person usually deals with the future or present and how it will affect another. If you were to meet an enlightened Prophetic you would be able to get some information about your 'line of probability', tomorrow is not set in time remember. This could be a person who has a dream about something and that dream turns out to happen in reality. They have the ability of prediction because they 'just know' and can tune into and understand their hunches.

Clairsentience - Feeler This is a person who will pick up a thought and transform it immediately into a feeling. This persons life can revolve around how it feels to them. Their sense of touch is well-developed and they have the ability to know people by feeling what they feel. After enlightenment, this is someone would have the ability to practice psychometry. The ability to put something belonging to someone in their hand and read the energy. Depending on their other gifts, they could tell the past, present or future from the energy. They have the ability to feel how others feel but only on the emotional level. They will be able to not only empathise but experience their pain, loss, grief etc. For instance, if they were to channel energy from a persons past life they would experience the pain and hurt that that soul experienced in that past lifetime.

Clairgustance - Taste Clairgustance is being aware of tastes without putting anything physically in the mouth. To perceive the essence of a substance through taste from the spiritual or ethereal realms. The sensation of what one is tasting is often linked to a spirit on the other side.

Claircognizance The sense of knowing through our brain, even though it is not a physical sense, simply because it has a corresponding metaphysical sense known as claircognizance, or knowing without knowing how you know.

Clairolerance - The Smell The sense of Smelling different fragrances from Spirits to find that earthly connection, strong odours you can't escape and can't explain a reason for eg: Cooking odours, Perfumes, Perfumes, Cigars or Cigarettes, Flowers, Extra. The characteristic essence linked to a spirit on the other side.

Psychometry Psychometry is another form of psychic divination using the sense of touch to get mental impression linked to it. Psychometric impressions may come in the form of emotions, sounds, scents, tastes or images. The visions can appear is single flat images, much like a photo, or as animations. As we exist in an electromagnetic energy reality, metal objects often work best.

How many times have you had this problem of the new DVD that your friend / cousin got from a foreign trip doesn't simply play in your DVD player due to the Region Code. Well, I have personally had this problem too - But I was lucky to contact few of my friends who helped me solve the issue.

Well, today I came across a very useful website called VIDEOHelp , where they have more than 5000 DVD players sorted by the make / model number. Just search for the model number of your player and follow the steps they have given. At the end you will be able to make your DVD player Region Free - What this really means that you can play DVD's from any region of the world.

As an example I have pasted below the steps to be followed to make the Philips DVP642 DVD Player Region Free.

1. Turn on the player. 2. Open the tray. 3. Press the following sequence on the remote: 7 8 9 OK 0 4. The number 0 will appear on the lower left side of your screen. 5. Your player is now region free! Put in a DVD and enjoy! :)

NOTE: The 0 in the sequence above represents the region code. 0 = region free. If you want to change your player to just a specific region code, replace the 0 with the region number you want.

Microsoft Silverlight is, the solution that will power the next generation of media experiences on the web and also a direct competitor to the ubiquitous Adobe Flash technology. Microsoft's next-generation, cross-platform, cross-browser web client runtime, Silverlight, previously codenamed WPF/E – Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere, also affectionately dubbed the Adobe Flash killer, was unveiled to the world at the beginning of this week. In a manner similar to Flash, Silverlight is designed to enable developers to build rich media experiences on the web.

Essentially, Silverlight is nothing more than a lightweight subset of XAML designed for integrating online rich media experiences. In this regard, Microsoft has not focused only on Windows, but also on Macintosh. According to Microsoft, Silverlight delivers support for both Mac and Windows browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.

Silverlight is designed to enable developers to build rich media experiences on the web. Microsoft also announced that it will begin shipping a key new media utility designed to generate rich media content for Silverlight.

You can download a FREE trial of the cool Silverlight from the following Microsoft Download link.

Looks like from the past few days, I have been biten by the Tax bug - coz I have posted articles on Tax. Well, wouldn't it be the best solution for everybody to pay the taxes by SMS? Since we have the taxes deadline inching close and it can be very frustrating if you had a busy day at work and don't want to lose any more time staying in the queues of the IT office to pay the tax. There are more than a million people that would probably agree with me on that. The online tax payment solution is already insufficient for the amount of people that decide to pay taxes comfortably from their own PCs, as more and more people choose this alternative.

The traffic gets jammed in seconds. And with such a flooded network, you'd better go to the physical location, then wait for your turn. Everybody uses messaging from their mobile devices; so why not paying taxes from the handsets in a matter of seconds?

Unfortunately, only the Filipinos are lucky enough to be able to pay this way, as the new service named “PAYBIR” will allow all the Filipinos to pay taxes by sending a simple SMS. And with the Filipino population number, it’s a relief to have such an opportunity.

After all, the mobile messaging industry is reportedly known to be even bigger than the movie or the music industry and brings huge profits to the mobile communication companies. It's only a matter of time before mobile messaging will have other functions than the social one.

The service is available after a former partnership between Globe Telecom and the Bank of Philippines which already uses a G-Cash service that makes the tax payment so much easier for the customers.

You have to admit that all these types of solutions are temporary, as millions of people are going to use them, while others are going to wait for the network to be available. What do you say?

Condos are a good stepping stone, yes. If you're not going to live on the property, however, your loan will be more difficult because lenders prefer owner occupied properties over tenant occupied ones. Why not live in your first acquistion, perhaps a duplex? That way, you'll get the best of both worlds. And duplexes have great resale value.

Whatever you do, DO THE MATH CAREFULLY. Condos have monthly fees which must be considered, and property taxes and maintenance add up. Make sure there is a positive cash flow or, if you live there, that considering your gaining a residence, it works for that reason.

Phoenix Condos For Sale is one great place to check out when you are searching for a Condo in the Pheonix or Arizona area. The site has great stuff to compare and co-relate on what you need to get that extra buck.

Condo's are a great way to start. You are wrong about condo's not offering as much profit as a home. Condo's are much cheaper than homes regarding price vs rent possible. More likely to pay their own way. The problem is that condo fees and taxes have go up so much it has eliminated much of the benefit. There are still some condo's for sale that are good deals. Don't buy anything that won't almost pay for itself. It will be a while before prices begin to go up again.

Although it may be difficult to really protect your privacy when on the internet, but you can do a bit. Here's a complete round-up of the same.

When you're on the Internet, you're in a global marketplace stocked with products and services. But the Internet's major currency is information. You seek it from others. Others seek it from you. Marketers, in particular, want to know as much about you and your buying habits as you are willing to tell.

Since some information may be quite personal, you'll want to know how it is gathered, how it is used, and occasionally abused. Just as you might carry cash in a secret pouch when you go abroad, you may want to protect certain information when you go online.

Information is gathered on the Internet both directly and indirectly. When you enter a chat room discussion, leave a message on a bulletin board, register with a commercial site, enter a contest, or order a product, you directly and knowingly send information into Cyberspace. Often, a Web site may require information from you as the "toll" you pay to enter.

Data also can be gathered indirectly, without your knowledge. For example, your travels around a Web site can be tracked by a file called a "cookie" left on your computer's hard drive on your first visit to that site. When you revisit the site, it will open the cookie file and access the stored information so it will know how to greet you. You may even be welcomed by name. If you linger over a product or a subject that interests you, it will be noted. And soon, you may see ads on the site that look as if they've been custom tailored for you. As Web sites gather information directly and indirectly, they can collect a complete data picture of you and your family. This kind of information is valuable to marketers because it helps them target their sales efforts.

It's difficult to be anonymous once you're on the Internet. Expect to receive unsolicited advertising e-mail, even personalized ads that seem to know you. This junk e-mail "spam" can be a nuisance, even a scam. If it looks questionable, simply delete it. Check with your ISP or online service for ways to limit unsolicited e-mail.

As anywhere, the Internet has its share of "snoopers" and con men. Guard your password. It's the key to your account. People who work for your service provider should never request your password. If they do, refuse the request and report the incident to your service provider immediately.

When shopping online, be very careful about revealing your Social Security or credit card number and shipping address. Many Web sites scramble or encrypt information like that to ensure the safety of your personal data. Look at the privacy policy for information about how the Web sites you visit scramble or encrypt your personal data. This technology is improving rapidly, but still is not foolproof.

Concerns about loss of privacy are not new. But the computer's ability to gather and sort vast amounts of data -- and the Internet's ability to distribute it globally -- magnify those concerns. To a large extent, privacy is up to you when you enter a Web site. Look for a privacy statement. Sites that are most sensitive to your privacy concerns not only have privacy policies, but also display them clearly and conspicuously, offer you a choice to share your personal information or restrict its use, and explain how your information will be used.

Hope this information helped you in a little way to enlighten yourself.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Following are the different items where you can invest to get a maximum deduction of 1 lac u/s 80 C

1.LIC insurance premium (including payment made by govt employees to the central govt employees' insurance scheme and payment made by a person under children 's defered endowment assurance policy){subject to a maximum of 20% of sum assured}.

2.Amount deposited as term deposit for a period of 5 years or more accordance with a scheme framed by the govt (applicable from Assessment year 2007-2008).

3.Payment in respect of non-commutable Deffered annuity plan.

4.Any amount paid as tuition fee (not including any payment towards development fees/donation/payment of similar nature) whether at the time of admission or otherwise to any university/college/educational institutions in india for full time education.

5.Salary deducted by employer (incase of Govt employee).

6.Contribution to Statutory provident fund and RPF.

7.Contribution towards 15yrs PPF.

8.Contribution towards approved superannuation fund.

9.Subscription to National Savings Certificate VIII issue.

10.Contribution for participating in the ULIP of UTI.

11.Contribution for participating in the ULIP of LIC mutual fund.

12.Payment for notified annuity plan of LIC or any other insurer.

13.Subscription towards notified units of Mutual Fund or UTI.

14.Contribution to notified pension fund set up by Mutual fund or UTI (i.e retirement benefit pension fund of UTI).

15.Any sum paid including accrued interest as subscription to home loan account scheme of the National Housing Bank or contribution to any notified pension fund set uo by the national housing Bank.

16.Any sum paid as subscription to any scheme ofa> public sector company engaged in providing long term finance for purchase/construction of residential house in India.b> housing board constituted in India for the purpose of planning, development or improvement of cities/towns.

17.Any amount towards the cost of purchase/construction of aresidential property (including repayment of loan taken from Govt. bank, cooperative bank,LIC,National Housing Bank,assessee's employer where such an employer is a public company/public sector company/university/co-operativ... society).

18.Amount invested in approved debentures of, and equity shares in, a public company engaged in infrastructure including power sector or units of amutual fund proceeds of which are utilised for the developing, maaintaining,etc of a new infrastructure facility.

If Windows Vista has ever booted on your computer, then you are familiar with the boot screen. Vista will display the logon screen in case there are multiple user accounts or if the singleuser has set up a password. Of course that the simplest way to circumvent the Windows Vista logon screen, if you own the only user account on your machine, is to do without the password. This will cause the operating system to not display a logon screen during start up. A single user with no password will be automatically logged on.

But if you share your machine with other users then you might also want to have Windows Vista directly logon into your account, or one of the accounts. There are of course various reasons for doing this. If you find yourself hugging the machine while the other users rarely use it, then you might want to skip the logon screen.

Additionally, even if you are the sole users, you still might have set up a password just to have access to added functionality like remote connections. You wouldn't be able to connect remotely to a Windows Vista account that is not password protected.

Anyway, if you were expecting a hack I have to disappoint you. This is nothing more than simple account management. You will have to click the Start sphere, then enter “cmd” in the search box. In the Command Prompt window write “control userpasswords2” and hit enter.

Windows Vista will now ask you to elevate the privileges of the process so do it and you will be face to face with a window for User Accounts. Toward the top you will be able to see the option “users must enter a username and password to use this computer.” Select the account you wish to alter and then uncheck the option. You will then be prompted with an Automatically Log On window, in which you will have to enter your name and password.

Those of you that have used the high end editions of Windows Vista, already know that the operating system is a tad slower than Windows XP. Responsible for the slow speeds is in par Windows Aero. Even on configurations that satisfy the systems requirements of Aero, there is a trade-off between the special effects and the actual functionality. In this case, there is also a direct impact on the workflow.

Windows Aero can be turned off by navigating to Personalize via the right-click menu on the desktop and the View Color and Appearance > Open classic appearance properties for more color options. In the menu that pops up, users can select Windows Vista Basic graphical user interface.

Additionally, you can right-click Computer and select Properties and then Advanced System Settings in the left menu followed by Performance Settings. You can set up your Windows Vista system for best appearance versus best performance or even customize the effects you want enabled or disabled.

You have to understand the fact that Windows Vista ships with a few default accounts. Microsoft refers to them as built-in accounts. Without a doubt, you have already seen one of them on your own copy of Vista. It is the Guest account. The Guest account is present by default in the User Accounts section of the Control Panel and you only need to activate it.

The same is the case with the default administrator account. If the Guest account is the “Built-in account for guest access to the computer/domain” the Administrator is the “Built-in account for administering the computer/domain.” Now the administrator account is not only disabled by default such as the Guest account, but it is also hidden.

In order to enable it and bring it to the surface enter “cmd” in the Search Box integrated in the Start Menu and right-click the Command Prompt icon that will be displayed at the top. Make sure that you launch the process with elevated privileges via the Run as Administrator command.

In the Command Prompt windows enter “net user administrator /active:yes” in order to enable the Administrator account. If at any time you change your mind and want to revert to the original settings, then type “net user administrator /active:no” and hit enter. The built-in Administrator account will show up just like all the other accounts when you will log in, but it will have absolute power over Windows Vista and will not be limited by the User Account control.

Perhaps one of the most famous waits in Mac history is over for good since, Adobe has announced the immediate availability of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Standard editions and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Standard editions.

Designers and developers worldwide now have brand-new, tightly integrated, design and development software that unites the best of Adobe and former Macromedia product innovation, offering a broad spectrum of creative options.

The expanded Creative Suite 3 family also includes Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium, a complete integrated post-production solution for video and rich media professionals, and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection, which combines all of Adobe's new CS3 design and development applications in a single box. Both of these Creative Suite editions are expected to ship in the third quarter of 2007.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, and Web Standard are immediately available to customers in the United States and Canada, and are available through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store. Estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium edition is US$1799, $1199 for Creative Suite 3 Design Standard edition, $1599 for Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and $999 for Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Standard. There are numerous upgrade paths available for Adobe customers.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The Groom Lake Base is this top-secret military base located 90 miles north of Las Vegas (which is in Nevada). It's in grid number 51 of the Nevada Test Site, so it's called Area 51. The United States Air Force Flight Test Center controls the base. It's best known for testing exotic aircraft and weapons.

The base was created in 1954 as a place to test the secret U-2 spyplane that was used to fly missions over the Soviet Union. Then it started to house the SR-71, A-12 and D-21 drone. The F-117A was tested there, also.

In the 1980's the base increased in size, along with the runway (which increased to the present 6 miles). Then, mysterious lights began to appear, and armed guards known as the cammo dudes started patrolling the border. The government closed many viewpoints from which the Area 51 base could be seen. In 1989, a "physicist" named Bob Lazar claimed that he worked at a base south of Area 51 and also claimed that Area 51 was testing extremely advanced aircraft and UFO's they got by trading with the aliens. Since then, Area 51 has been thought to be the test center of captured UFOs because of the lights in the night sky.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Air Deccan has today posted on it's Official website and also placed Ads in major newspapers about the 5,00,000 Free Tickets that are up for grabs in Air Deccan for the travel period of 1st July 2007 to 27th October 2007.

Well, when Air Deccan(or any other airline) says that the tickets are free - you must read the fine print below "Conditions Apply". The Conditions include that the different taxes need to be borne by the passengers. That actually brings up a price for each ticket - which is quite above that Rs. 0 really.

Although Air Deccan might not be that rosy to travel, but it still makes sense when you only consider the time and money - leaving the other luxuries behind. So what are you waiting for, go and grab the Free Air Deccan Airline tickets that are up for grabs.

Friday, April 13, 2007

FFDShow MPEG-4 Video Decoder is a DirectShow decoding filter for decompressing DIVX movies, picture postprocessing, and show subtitles. It uses libavcodec from ffmpeg project or for video decompression (it can use xvid.dll installed with xvid codec too), postprocessing code from mplayer to enhance visual quality of low bitrate movies, and is based on original DirectShow filter from XviD, which is GPL'ed educational implementation of MPEG4 encoder.

The best thing about FFDShow is that it is a Freeware and an Open Source Program.

Due to their molecular stability, plastics do not easily break down into simpler components. Plastics are therefore not considered biodegradable .However, researchers are working to develop biodegradable plastics that will disintegrate due to bacterial action or exposure to sunlight. For example, scientists are incorporating starch molecules into some plastic resins during the manufacturing process. When these plastics are discarded, bacteria eat the starch molecules. This causes the polymer molecules to break apart, allowing the plastic to decompose. Researchers are also investigating ways to make plastics more biodegradable from exposure to sunlight. Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun causes many plastics molecules to become brittle and slowly break apart. Researchers are working to create plastics that will degrade faster in sunlight, but not so fast that the plastic begins to degrade while still in use.